Report: Development of Thermal Bridging Factors for Use in Energy Models

Mark Lawton, P.Eng., Senior Building Science Specialist, was a subject matter expert in a June 2015 report for the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on “Development of Thermal Bridging Factors for Use in Energy Models.” Morrison Hershfield was responsible for the 3D thermal modeling included in the report.

The USACE has a mandate to control and reduce the energy costs of running its huge portfolio of facilities and have taken an aggressive approach to this assignment both in research and construction practice. This report presents research on the impact of thermal bridging on the heat flow through the envelopes of the types of buildings in the USACE's portfolio and how to mitigate that in new and existing construction.

As part of their research, USACE brought in subject matter experts, including Lawton, with internationally recognized expertise in analyzing and mitigating thermal bridges who worked collaboratively to develop the research report.

Morrison Hershfield was one of the three subject matter experts as a result of our highly respected work on thermal bridging for ASHRAE, BC Hydro and private clients.

The abstract of the report reads:

To meet mandated energy reduction goals, this work developed a number of heat transmittance factors for use in including the heat loss of thermal bridging in the energy analysis of buildings. This work provides practical guidelines for the mitigation and reduction of thermal bridge problems in existing and new Army facilities. A wide range of building types was investigated from which nine common types were identified, and a number of important thermal bridge details were chosen for each. A list of details was compiled, from which 30 were chosen for detailed analysis based on their significance.

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